Sponge type mop with two-part hinged backing plate



Oct. 25, 1949. w. E. BERNDSEN SPONGE TYPE MOP WITH TWO-PART HINGED BACKING PLATE Filed 061'.. 8, 1945 sPoNGE TYPE MOP WITH Two-PART HINGED BACKING PLATE Filed OCT.. 8, 1945 Oct. 25, 1949. w. E. BERNDSEN 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 p o 0500 o 266% O O O O O O INVENTOR.

By WML/AME BEENDSEN 23 M Patented Oct. 25, 1949 SPONGE TYPE MOP WITH TWO-PART HINGE!) BACKING PLATE William E. Bernds'en, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor of three-sixteenths to Richard A. Berndsen and three-sixteenths to Betty Jane Jorgensen Application October 8, 1945, Serial No. 620,893

4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to mops, and more particularly to mops of the type shown in my abandoned application, Serial No. 538,664, illed June 2, 1944, (of which this application is a continuation in part) wherein the operating portion of the mop comprises a pair of back plates which are hingedly connected and which support a pad of liquid-absorbent material and wherein means are associated with the handle for the application of power to one of the backing plates whereby it, together with the portion of the pad supported thereby, may be moved toward the other backing plate and the other portion of the pad for the purpose of expelling liquid from the pad when the latter shall have been saturated to an extent requiring such expulsion.

It is the general purpose and object of my invention to improve the construction and reduce the cost of production of mops of the aforesaid type and, as an incident to such improvement and construction, to provide the same with a particularly eiective power-applying means, associated with the handle, for eiecting the movement of one of the backing plates and the portion of the pad supported therebytoward the opposed backing plate and the portion of the pad supported thereby.

Further and more limited objects of the invention are: to provide an eflcient connection between the movable backing plate and the poweroperated member which is connected thereto; to provide an emcient manner of hingedly connecting the back plates; and to provide an inexpensive construction of backing plates and pads whereby the former may be produced by a. pressure-casting operation and the latter may be conveniently and removably supported by the former.

I accomplish the foregoing objects, as well as others which will be pointed out hereinafter, by

the construction and arrangement of the parts shown in the drawings hereof, wherein Fig. 1 shows a side elevational view of a mop constructed in accordance with my invention, the upper portion of the handle being broken away and showing the parts of the mop proper in the positions which they occupy when in operation; Fig. 2 a view, similar to Fig. l, and showing the positions occupied by the parts when the sections of the mop pad are compacted against each other for the purpose of expelling liquid therefrom; Fig. 3 a. rear elevational view of a portion of the mop, showing more particularly the connections between the movable backing plate and the linkage by which the said plate is operated; Fig. 4 a plan view of the mop proper and a portion of the handle which is connected thereto; Fig. 5 a bottom plan showing the backing plates in open or distended position, with a fragment of the pad extending thereacross; Fig. 6 an enlarged detail in section taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4 and looking in the direction of the arrows; Figs? a plan view of the pad; and Fig. 8 a sectional view of the pad taken on the line 8 8 of Fig. '1.

Describing the various parts herein by reference characters, I0 and II denote the backing plates of the mop, the pad whereof is designated as 29, the former plate being shown as having a split socket I2 rigidly connected thereto and preferably cast therewith, the socket being provided with ears I3 and a screw bolt I4 connecting said ears, whereby the lower end of the handle I5 may be detachably secured to and within the socket. The backing plate II is provided with laterally spaced pairs of lugs I6 for the reception therebetween of the lower ends of arms I'I of a yoke, said arms converging from the lower ends thereof and having their upper ends connected by an integral cross member Il, the lower ends of' said arms being pivotally connected to and between the said lugs. as by means of rivets I8. The upper end of the yoke is received between forked arms Ilia, |91. the arm Il)m being shown as secured at its upper end to the lower portion of a link I9 of which the arm I9* forms a continuation. 20 denotes a pair of links which are pivoted to opposite sides of the socket I2, as by means of a rivet 20, and the opposite ends of which extend alongside the lower ends of the arms I9, I9", the upper ends of the yoke arms I1 andthe lower ends of the arms ISB, |91 and the swinging ends of the links 20 being all pivotally connected by means of a pivot pin 20". The upperend of the link I9 is pivotally connected to and between the outer ends of fork arms 22a forming part of a lever having an operating arm 22, the inner endsl of the fork arms being pivotally connected to the handle I5 by means of a screw bolt 23.

Except forl the fact that the backing plate I0 is rigidly connected to the socket I2 and that the backing plate II is movably connected to the backing plate I 0 and is provided with the lugs I6, the said backing plates are identical in construction, each being provided with an outer side Bange I Il, IIa, respectively, and with end flanges Ib and IIb, respectively, and at their proximate side edges with inner side anges I0c and I I, respectively, which extend inwardly from their respective end flanges toward each other, but are spaced apart at their inner ends. Each of these flanges has formed therewith hinge eyes 24, 2l, respectively, for the reception of the pintle 25, the relatively wide space provided between their inner ends being occupied by a coiled spring 26 mounted upon the pintle and having extended ends engaging the inner faces of the backing plates I0 and I I. It will be noted that the hinge construction extends substantially to the ends of the backing plates, thereby contributing to the strength and life of the former.

Each end of each of the backing plates is provided with integral short inwardly projecting shelves 21, these shelves extending beneath elongated drainage openings thereabove, as shown at "of which it is made, it is unnecessary to provide the same with a recess for the reception of the hinge members,it being necessary only to providethe same with a sloil 29EL in its lower surface, midway between its side edges and extending substantially the full length thereof, for the reception of the flanges II)c and IIc and the hinge eyes 2li and 25B. The elongated openings 28 above the shelves are substantially coextensive in length and width with the length and width of the shelves, This enables me to insert in these openings cores of the same width and length as the openings, whereby the backing plates containing these openings and the shelves 2l and the liquid-expelling openings 3l can 'be produced by a die-casting operation, thereby enabling the backing plates to be manufactured at low cost.

With the parts constructed and arranged as described, the operation will be readily understood. The mop may be operated in the usual manner by means of the handle I5 until such time as it is desired to wring the same, at which time the operating arm 22 of the lever, which normally rests against the underside of the handle, (due to the proportioning of the parts II, I9 and 20), will be swung downwardly to the position shown in Fig. 2, thereby swinging the link I9 downwardly and applying sufllcient power to the movable backing plate II to insure the effective expulsion of liquid from the pad, in part through the openings 28 and 3l. After this operation, the lever will be folded upwardly to the position shown in Fig. 1, and the backing plates and the pad will be restored to their operating positions by the spring 26. The pad may be scured to the backing plates by inserting opposed ends of the wire springs 30 between the shelves 21 at opposite ends of the backing plates and the bodies of the plates themselves, whereupon, by buckling the central portions of the said springs upwardly, their opposite ends can be inserted in like manner between the shelves at the opposite ends of the backing plates and the bodiesof the plates. The pad can be removed by pulling outwardly upon the side portion of the pad which will contract the lengths of the springs sufficiently to disengage them from their seats on the shelves and be replaced thereafter by a like new pad. The wire springs referred to constitute stiffening members for the pad as well as means whereby the pad may be detachably' connected to the backing plates. f

From the foregoing, it will be evident that I have produced a mop which is unusually efficient in operation and which is equally economical vof production.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A mop comprising, in combination, a pair of opposed backing plates each having' end flanges, an outer side flange and inner side flanges extending from their respective end flanges with their inner ends spaced apart, the space provided between the inner ends of the inner side flanges of one of said plates being substantially coextensive with the space provided between the inner ends of the inner side flanges on the other of said plates, the last mentioned side flanges being provided with complementary hinge eyes and spaces therebetween, said complementary hinge eyes and spaces being formed in two longitudinally spaced portions of the said backing plates, a pintle extending through the aforesaid hinge eyes, a coil spring mounted on said pintle in the space between the inner ends of the inner side anses and having ends adapted to engage respectively the inner walls of said plates, said coil spring being positioned intermediate the longitudinally spaced portions of the hinge so as to be retained on said pintle by the hinge sections. and a' pad of liquid absorbent material detachably supported by said backing plates.

2. In the mop set forth in claim 1, the said pad being composed of cellular sponge-like material and having a slot extending longitudinally thereof in its inner surface for the reception of the hinge eyes, pintle and spring.

3. A mop comprising, in combination, a pair of opposed .backing plates pivotally connected at their proximate edges and each having side and end flanges, shelves projecting inwardly from each of the end flanges and spaced from the end portions of the backing plate thereabove, a pad of liquid-absorbent material comprising sections each adapted to be fitted between the end flanges of each backing plate and each having therein a substantially rectangular spring frame the sides whereof are of sumcient length to enable the ends of the spring frame to be snapped into place between the said shelves and the portions oi the backing plate thereabove.

4. A mop comprising, in combination, a pair of opposed backing plates pivotally connected at their proximate edges and each having side and end flanges and each having openings therethrough, each backing plate being also provided with an elongated opening adjacent to each corner thereof and within and adjacent to the side and end flanges thereof, each of the said backing plates having shelves projecting inwardly beneath the said elongated openings and being substantially coextensive in length with the length of said openings, a pad of liquid absorbent material comprising sections each adapted to be fitted within the flanges of each backing plate and each having therein a substantially rectangular spring frame the sides whereof are of sufficient length to enable the ends of the spring frame to be snapped into place above the said shelves.

WILLIAM E. BERNDSEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ille of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 548,622 Ballam Oct. 29, 1895 603,999 Ballam May 10, 1898 1,538,740 Peterson May 19, 1925 1,665,727 Campbell Apr. 10, 1928 2,044,075 Jelenfy June 16, 1936 2,138,712 Saffert Nov. 29, 1938 2,204,806 Lorenz et al. June 18, 1940 2,251,384 Thomas Aug. 5, 1941 2,310,006 Wisner Feb. 2, 1943 2,358,673 Vaughn Sept. 19, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 467.108 Great Britain June 10, 1937 

